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MUSE PARADOX

" For a first major work, this is a master stroke for this young choreographer, who has just turned thirty, and makes us want to follow her over the long term " 

- Amélie Bertrand, Danses avec La Plume [English Translation]

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Program Notes

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Muse Paradox reimagines Balanchine's 1928 masterpiece Apollon Musagète through a contemporary female lens, shifting focus from the god Apollo to explore the complex nature of the muse. As a dancer trained by Balanchine's own muses at the School of American Ballet, Fukuda brought her personal experience to examining this legacy.


The work highlights two female leads who embody the paradoxical evolution of the muse: from her origins as a powerful, autonomous goddess in mythology to her later Western artistic depiction as a passive source of male inspiration and object of beauty. This transformation raises a central question: How did the muse—once a divine being who actively chose which mortals would receive her gift of creative genius—become reduced to a passive vessel for another's artistic voice?  Fukuda’s choreography challenges the narrow aesthetic ideals and gendered expectations that have historically defined ballet, while acknowledging both the empowering and limiting aspects of being a muse.

Agnès Izrine, 

Danser Canal Historique

[English Translation]

"But what's most remarkable is the subtlety with which Fukuda reuses the Balanchinian vocabulary to develop a personal signature – she knows how to distill just the right dose of humor and irony to upset the apparent orderliness. Daring lifts – sequences of small beats and a kind of race to virtuosity punctuate this choreography, which knows how to articulate a truly contemporary style from a classical vocabulary."

Veneranda Paladino,

Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace - DNA 

[English Translation]

"The inspiring creation of Brett Fukuda – demonstrates remarkable dramaturgical strength here. From a refined scenography, Muse Paradox emerges. The choreographer skillfully reverses Balanchine's vision of Apollon musagète.
Drawing from the heart of her journey as a woman, as a dancer, and from the teachings of Balanchine, she celebrates emancipation with a humor that is too rare in neoclassical dance."
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Caroline Charron,

ResMusica

[English Translation]

"This is the first major choreography by dancer and choreographer Brett Fukuda , and it is a success. The young choreographer, with great relevance and talent, has chosen to use her own experience as a dancer to question the place of the muse today. A convinced feminist, Fukuda shows us a strong muse, who does not allow herself to be confined and sometimes seems to reverse the roles. A ballet of great beauty on a stripped-down stage where only a screen allows for the play of light and shadow. "
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More Info

Premiered January 2024

Ballet de L'Opéra National du Rhin

Strasbourg Opera House, France

A piece for 5 dancers

Set to Igor Stravinsky's Apollon Musagète

Choreography: Brett Fukuda
​Lighting: Romain de Lagarde

Costumes: Brett Fukuda with Thibaut Welchlin 

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